Files on Leopold's political foes include information from police database

CaptionJohn R. Leopold

Amy Davis / The Baltimore Sun

Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold was charged March 2 with using his taxpayer-funded police detail to help secure his re-election, run personal errands, keep his affair with a county employee private and drive him to frequent sexual rendezvous. Leopold, a Republican, was charged with four counts of misconduct in office and one count of fraudulent misappropriation of county funds, charges that come after a yearlong investigation by the state prosecutor. If convicted of all misdemeanor charges, the 69-year-old Pasadena resident could face at least one year in jail. The indictment lists some bizarre allegations -- including that the county executive ordered his security detail to empty his urine catheter after an operation. He was also accused of having the officers drive him to meet a female county employee for sexual encounters in a vehicle parked in public places up to three times weekly. In a telephone interview after the indictment was announced, Leopold vowed to fight the charges, saying he would not step down. He declined to comment on the specific allegations, but his attorney criticized the state prosecutor's decision to include such graphic detail in the indictment. "The citizens of the county can look at my decades-long record of public service and know that I've always put the interest of the taxpayers first," said Leopold. "I would ask my fellow citizens to reserve judgment until both sides of the story can be heard. I'm confident that when the citizens hear both sides of the story and hear all the facts, they'll have a complete and full account and we will prevail."

Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold was charged March 2 with using his taxpayer-funded police detail to help secure his re-election, run personal errands, keep his affair with a county employee private and drive him to frequent sexual rendezvous. Leopold, a Republican, was charged with four counts of misconduct in office and one count of fraudulent misappropriation of county funds, charges that come after a yearlong investigation by the state prosecutor. If convicted of all misdemeanor charges, the 69-year-old Pasadena resident could face at least one year in jail. The indictment lists some bizarre allegations -- including that the county executive ordered his security detail to empty his urine catheter after an operation. He was also accused of having the officers drive him to meet a female county employee for sexual encounters in a vehicle parked in public places up to three times weekly. In a telephone interview after the indictment was announced, Leopold vowed to fight the charges, saying he would not step down. He declined to comment on the specific allegations, but his attorney criticized the state prosecutor's decision to include such graphic detail in the indictment. "The citizens of the county can look at my decades-long record of public service and know that I've always put the interest of the taxpayers first," said Leopold. "I would ask my fellow citizens to reserve judgment until both sides of the story can be heard. I'm confident that when the citizens hear both sides of the story and hear all the facts, they'll have a complete and full account and we will prevail." (Amy Davis / The Baltimore Sun)

Maryland State Prosecutor Emmet C. Davitt on March 2 secured an indictment against Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold that charges him with using his taxpayer-funded police detail to help secure his re-election, run personal errands, keep his affair with a county employee private and drive him to frequent sexual rendezvous. Leopold, a Republican, was charged with four counts of misconduct in office and one count of fraudulent misappropriation of county funds, charges that come after a yearlong investigation by the state prosecutor. If convicted of all misdemeanor charges, the 69-year-old Pasadena resident could face at least one year in jail. "Public officials criminally abuse their public trust when they treat public resources as their personal property and public personnel as their personal servants," Davitt said in a statement. "These abuses will not be tolerated."

Maryland State Prosecutor Emmet C. Davitt on March 2 secured an indictment against Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold that charges him with using his taxpayer-funded police detail to help secure his re-election, run personal errands, keep his affair with a county employee private and drive him to frequent sexual rendezvous. Leopold, a Republican, was charged with four counts of misconduct in office and one count of fraudulent misappropriation of county funds, charges that come after a yearlong investigation by the state prosecutor. If convicted of all misdemeanor charges, the 69-year-old Pasadena resident could face at least one year in jail. "Public officials criminally abuse their public trust when they treat public resources as their personal property and public personnel as their personal servants," Davitt said in a statement. "These abuses will not be tolerated." (Kim Hairston / The Baltimore Sun)

The Anne Arundel County Police Department acknowledged Wednesday that a statewide police criminal records database was accessed in order for County Executive John R. Leopold to investigate political opponents.

The revelation came as the department released a number of files that Leopold had allegedly directed members of his taxpayer-funded police detail to maintain on the opponents. The files, obtained by The Baltimore Sun through a Maryland Public Information Act request, included information on several county residents, including a former county councilman and a Democratic candidate in the 2010 county executive's race.

Leopold, a Republican, was indicted March 2 on four counts of misconduct in office and one count of misappropriation of county funds. According to court papers filed by the state prosecutor,hedirected officers on his executive protection detail to arrange frequent sexual rendezvous with a county employee and to perform personal and political errands, including investigating opponents and maintaining files on them.

The Police Department's "partial response" to the public information request said that the county was withholding records from the Maryland Criminal Justice Information System — the statewide police database — on former Councilman Thomas Redmond of Pasadena. It said state law "restricts the dissemination of criminal history record information."

Deborah A. Jeon, legal director of the ACLU of Maryland, which also received the information through a public information request, said the database access was troubling.

"Mr. Leopold seems to have been conducting political opposition research on the county dime," said Jeon. "It might be typical for a political campaign to try to find negative information on candidates, but it is not legal or appropriate for a county government official to use county employees to conduct that kind of research."

Leopold did not respond to a message seeking comment. His attorney, Bruce L. Marcus, declined to comment.

In a Thursday press release, Jeon called the use of the criminal history database "potentially illegal," and sid the ACLU remains concerned that the "enemies list" violates a state law passed in 2009 restricting police from conducting investigations into activities protected by the First Amendment, unless conducted for law enforcement purposes. The legislation was passed in response to a spying scandal at the Maryland State Police.

"The response suggests Mr. Leopold might have demanded that police improperly access a criminal history database in the effort to dig up dirt on his perceived political rivals," said Jeon. "That would itself constitute a crime."

The police response was signed by Lt. James Scott Davis, commander of the Office of Professional Standards, who noted that the information kept on Redmond had been provided to the Maryland state prosecutor. Davis did not respond to a message seeking comment.

According to the indictment, Col. James E. Teare Sr., the police chief, knew about the allegations against Leopold, but took no action. Teare has declined to comment.

The documents released Wednesday largely appear to be publicly accessible information that would typically be used as opposition research in a political campaign, and most appear to have been printed from the Internet in 2008 and 2009. They included information on Democrat Carl O. Snowden, director of the Office of Civil Rights at the state attorney general's office; Democrat Joanna L. Conti, an Annapolis business executive who ran against Leopold in 2010; and her husband, Peter Conti.

Redmond, reached in Florida, was surprised to hear he had been the subject of political research.

"Wow," said Redmond, a Republican and retired business owner. "I didn't know he considered me a political enemy. It's surprising. I don't know what to say right now."

It was unclear what information was accessed from the police database, and Redmond said he didn't know what it could have been.

The file on Redmond also includes a missing persons flier on his sister-in-law, Betty Irene Redmond, who went missing in 1976 from Pasadena and has never been found. A note attached to the flier says "Missing person. Copy to JRL 10/15/08."

The file also includes publicly accessible court information on Redmond's 2004 divorce, as well as a biography from his campaign website, and several bankruptcy filings and civil cases against his business entities.

Redmond said he worked in a campaign against Leopold in 1990 when the then-delegate ran unsuccessfully for the state Senate.

"He was actually my delegate. I didn't agree with him on a lot of things," said Redmond, who was a Democrat while on the council from 1994 to 1998. "I didn't know that was enough to open a political file on me. I vigorously campaigned against him. I guess he never forgave me. It's a little mind-boggling."

The two files on Snowden included court documents and police reports relating to his three arrests for DUI. The ACLU said it was also looking into whether those police report files were accessed illegally.

"It's a typical black-bag job that we normally associate with a renegade police department," said Snowden. "It's important that the public know what Chief Teare knew and when he knew it. And whether this was authorized by the county executive."

Conti's file contained information on a townhouse development in which she and her husband invested, and information about her husband's business. She said that while the information was public, Leopold should have hired campaign workers to find it.

"My campaign paid someone to do opposition research," she said. "That's standing operating practice. But what is not OK is to use county staff and county resources to do political opposition research."

The ACLU says it also plans to ask the county for access to files that might have been kept on other Leopold political opponents, including County Councilman Jamie Benoit, county schools Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell and former Councilman Daryl D. Jones. Jones was ousted from the council when he began serving a five-month federal prison term in January.

Bob Mosier, a spokesman for Maxwell, said the superintendent was approached by the ACLU late Wednesday to find out if the county kept records on him. Maxwell consented to have the ACLU act on his behalf.

Mosier added, however, that Maxwell has received "no information" that he was a subject of a dossier. Maxwell and Leopold have frequently clashed over school budget issues.

"If this list of people exists, the county executive has the power to eliminate all the mystery around it and just tell people who he has investigated," Mosier said.

Benoit, a Crownsville Democrat, said he had authorized the ACLU to act on his behalf.

"I'm deeply troubled that it was done on county time using county resources," said Benoit. "It's just another dark cloud to hang over Anne Arundel county. It seems like the county executive doesn't do anything but bring bad weather."

Benoit added, "He's not going to find much; I lead a pretty boring life."

Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold was indicted and charged with multiple counts of misconduct in office, based on allegations that he used his county-paid police security detail for his own political gain and for transportation to engage in sex acts.